Cell group, River Trip and MDA Conference

I asked for prayer a few weeks ago for Jacira, a young girl that gave her life to Jesus at cell group but was then not allowed to participate in the group anymore. Praise the Lord, last week she came to group as we were celebrating the birthdays of two of the girls and I believe she will continue to participate in the group. Here is a picture of myself with 2 of my disciples (Carol and Isabel) and a friend Vanessa. We were celebrating their birthdays.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of going with a small group of friends to the community of Correio do Tapará. Most of them had never been to a river community. I have been to Correio several times and absolutely love it. We spent the afternoon exploring the community. Saturday night and Sunday morning we held two church services. The presence of God was truly felt in that place. We went fishing at midnight along the river banks of the Amazon. Well, I was just watching haha. It was a great time of fellowship and serving the Lord. I was reminded how many times we can get so caught up with material things but for me there is nothing better than the simplicity of a river community. It is a great reminder of what brings true happiness. Here are some pics of the trip...

About to eat some fish!!!

Me with Yan

Our group getting to know the community

Service Saturday night

Next week begins the annual MDA Conference based on the Apostolic Discipleship Model that the PAZ churches follow. People come from all over Brazil and even from other countries to sit under the teaching about cell groups and discipleship. I have attended two times and will be attending again this year. I will also be hosting a lady from São Paulo in my home. She will be arriving on Monday and staying for about a week and a half to participate in the conference and get to know the area.

Prayer Requests:

- Cell group and Jacira

- Finances and Support

Bearing Fruit...

Most of you know this year I became a cell group leader and have a group in my house every Wednesday night. My group is all girls and recently I found myself becoming discouraged not seeing much fruit or growth in the group. But I am reminded of Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Last Wednesday, this verse became reality in my cell group. The past couple of weeks we had a 13 year old girl visiting the group. She had never made a true commitment to Jesus. She said she prayed a prayer once but never really surrendered her life to Him. On Wednesday night at the end of cell group she prayed giving her life to Jesus. Another girl in the group prayed to rededicate her life to the Lord. We prayed together and talked through the basics of salvation. One of my disciples will begin to disciple her now so she can grow in her relationship with God. That moment was one of my most memorable since being here. I finally see the importance of cell groups in the local church. Join with me in praying for more fruit and growth in the cell group. All glory be given to God!

A little bit of everything...

It has certainly been awhile since the last update so let me try to do a brief recap and tell you what is coming next. The last official update, I was heading into the last few weeks with our summer interns. We went on a trip to Parintins which was wonderful to be back with the people from there who hold a very special place in my heart. We wanted the interns to see another one of our bases and Parintins was the place. It was a wonderful trip and we all had a lot of fun. Two of the interns and myself ended up getting sick on the way back and were in bed for several days. I came down with a lovely case of strep throat and was definitely missing my mom lol. Intern Amy went off another trip immediately when we returned from Parintins while the other two opted to stay in the city. The last week or so of their time here was pretty laid back with shopping, church and a trip to the zoo. Praise the Lord we have received great feedback from the interns this year and hope to improve the program even more for 2012.

Me with the 3 summer interns at the Congresso

Mode of transportation in a Vila close to Parintins...poor guy =)

During the month of July, the jovens (youth/young adult) ministry has something called a gincana. It is a type of “Olympics” with 3 different teams. There are different challenges each week and the teams earn points. I was super involved this year with leadership on my team the ‘Brows’ (pronounced bro haha). Some of the challenges were the team who got the most people to donate blood (I did for the 1^st time), who could fit the most people into a VW bug, team with the most youtube accesses for an evangelistic video, team with the best decorations, cheer, song, etc… You get the idea. It was a month of a lot of fun and I even got our interns (Amy and Lindsay) involved. Well, the most exciting is that my team won this year. The purpose of the gincana is to win lost young people for Christ and also to make friendships. It truly was a special time. We even had to do a cultural dance at the Jovens Northeastern Night. Pictures below…

With our trophy!

After many practices finally presenting our dance...

The group

August and September have been time for me to get really focused on cell group ministry and discipleship. August included 2 milestones for me, which were my 26^th birthday and my 3 year anniversary in Brazil. The Lord has blessed with such a great group of friends here. They threw a beautiful and unforgettable birthday party for me at a local hotel. I definitely felt God’s favor! Pictures below…

My 26th bday party with some friends

Sabrina, me and Lidiane

In the past few weeks, I was asked to take over the administration of a ministry school (4 years) the PAZ churches are going to be offering in all of their churches eventually. I will be administrating this school in the river communities and smaller cities around Santarem. I will be going to our monthly missions meeting at the beginning of each month and will be required to get the new materials printed up and distributed to the local workers; as well as, take care of the financial side of the project. I am really excited to be working with this project as it will get me closer to the precious workers we have.

Prayer Requests:

- Financial Support

- English lessons – I have been presented with many opportunities to teach English here at my home. Praying for discernment to know what to say yes to and what to say no to.

- Administration of my time

Praises:

- 26 years of life

- 3 years of service here in Brazil

- Each of you who are faithful in prayer and/or financial support

Testimony

Here is a video of a young in Santarem sharing his testimony of how God changed his life. I helped in the making of the video with the translation. The video was made for the jovens (youth/young adult) meeting. Hope you enjoy it!

Summer days...

I am currently finishing up the schedule for the last few weeks our summer interns will be here in Brazil but I have been meaning to write a blog update for quite sometime. Since there has been so much going on, I will just do a quick recap because otherwise you will be reading forever :).

Within 27 days, I went on 3 different trips in May and June. It was absolutely exhausting and wonderful all at the same time. Here are some highlights of each trip:

Vista Alegre on the Maró River -

• Community where 90% of the population are evangelical Christians.
• My main role was as a translator and team support. I took the team members to visit different homes and also the local school where we helped with English.
• Held a couple of services and a prayer vigil.
• Boat ride was 21 hours from Santarém.

Parintins -

• I lead the team from Oral Roberts University to the city of Parintins.
• We presented programs for elementary school children in 2 schools.
• The ORU team ministered in several of the services and I translated.
• We got to do a service in a nearby village called Vila Amazonia.

* In between Parintins and the next trip to Tucumatuba, we had our annual March for Jesus in Santarém. I was given the responsibility to look after the 2 teams that were in town during the March. Unfortunately, early on in the March, as everyone was walking along happy and singing, we all stopped to pray for specific needs in the city. The street we stopped on has huge mango trees in the median that give shade to the whole street. I turned to say something to a friend and as I did, I was pooped all over by a giant iguana up in the tree. Needless to say, I screamed and quickly got on a mototaxi to go shower off and get back to the March. Looking back it was hilarious...not so much at that particular moment :).

Tucumatuba on the Amazon River -

• An area where the work was abandoned for almost 12 years.
• Very few evangelical Christians in this community.
• My focus on this trip was evangelism and Children's ministry.
• One of the home's we visited, was a man who was a Christian about 6 years ago but has been backslidden and is known in the community for being very violent with his wife when he drinks, etc... I went to his house to speak to him and his family along with 2 people from the Journey Fellowship team and the local worker's wife. We talked for a long time about how God is waiting for him to come back with open arms just like in the story of the Prodigal Son. He started to cry and said he would be at the service that night with his family. I was so excited that night when I saw him, his wife and their 3 sons at the service and I was even more excited when the next day he came out to help with the construction of the church. God was definitely moving in his life.

Since these trips, our 3 summer interns have been here. We have worked at an Encounter weekend, gone kayaking, participated in cell groups and church meetings, walked through the jungle in the pouring down rain, they went on a water filters trip, we participated in the 3 night Congresso (evangelistic crusade we have every year), studied Portuguese, etc... Now we are running to the last 3 weeks of their time here which will include one trip for me and 2 for them.

Praises:

• 3 trips that were a blessing
• 3 great summer interns
• God's supernatural strength to help me with translation, evangelism, etc...

Prayer Requests:

• Increased financial support. This is an area that I am really needing prayer and God to work. Please pray with me and consider becoming a financial partner as well.
• Next 3 weeks of travel and time with the interns.

Link to pictures from ministry trips in May and June --> PICTURES

Ready to be stretched...

It's been over a month since my last update and there are a few exciting things that have happened in that time. In the middle of March, I graduated from a Leadership Course that I took the second half of last year. This course is essential for all who want to become cell group leaders and grow in the ministry here. It was a 5 month course with topics of Evangelism, New Creation, Christian Family and MDA vision (the discipleship and cell group system used in the PAZ churches). It was an excellent way to get even more involved with the work here in Santarém. Another big announcement is that I am now officially a cell group leader! I am very excited to have a cell group in my home now of all young girls!!! This has been my heart's desire for sometime now and it is very satisfying to see God bringing it to fruition. Also, becoming leader of this group has given me the privilege to have 2 more disciples. I now will be discipling 3 young ladies =). God is faithful!!!

Wednesday a team from ORU will be arriving and I will be very involved during their stay of almost a month. Our PAZ guesthouse hosts are currently on furlough so there is a group of us that are going to be helping a lot with the teams that will be arriving in the next several months. God is going to be stretching me for sure. With the arrival of the ORU team, I am going to be used a lot for translation during services. Sometimes this will include using a translator set and translating the church service for the team and other times it will include being up front as a team member shares a testimony or preaches. This will be a stretch for me in so many ways. I know the Lord will give me the strength to do this and I count on your prayers to hold me up during the next several weeks. Saturday and Sunday I will be translating for the ORU team during the youth/young adult service and Sunday during the main service. Sunday evening around 7pm we will be leaving on a boat trip to Vista Alegre which is located on the Maró River. It is a 20 hour boat trip from Santarém so we will have a lot of time to get to know each other and to rest up for our work. It looks like our main job will be to pour the floor of the church and also participate in cell group and any services they have while we are there. I will be the main translator for any house visits and church services. Once again God taking me out of my comfort zone! We will be back in Santarém on Saturday morning the 21st. The team will travel again but I will stay in Santarém getting ready for our summer interns to arrive at the beginning of June. On June 27th, I will lead the team to the city of Parintins (I went last year with the ORU team). We will spend about a week there helping the church and being involved in different ministry opportunities. As soon as we get back from Parintins, the interns will be here in Santarém ready to start the 2011 internship. I will try to get a blog update out between the trip to Vista Alegre and Parintins and again after Parintins before I run off with the interns haha!

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support! I could not be here realizing God's call on my life without each of you. May God bless and keep you and yours!

Some pictures from my graduation:

Waiting for our names to be called

Receiving my certificate with my Pastor

Me!

With my friend, Darlen

My class and our teachers and pastors

Exhausting but incredible...

I think I have finally recovered from the two camps I worked at and participated in. The last camp I went to left me with a week long cold and completely wiped out for days but the time I had at both camps was incredible. February 24-27th I had the amazing opportunity to be a counselor for AcampTEEN (adolescents camp). There were over 400 youth that participated. I had a cabin of 9 amazing girls and my assistant counselor. God really blessed me with a great group of girls that didn't cause any problems and were very obedient! I was able to build some relationships with some very precious young girls and able to invest in their spiritual growth. Ministry time was amazing and I loved being able to just hug the girls and let them cry on my shoulder and pray with them. The presence of God was very real during the camp. One young girl gave her life to Jesus and I was with her to hug her and pray with her for over an hour as she sobbed. I felt like working at the camp showed me that my heart is truly for the youth. They are such a key part for the future of the church and the advancement of the Gospel in the world.

The following week, March 5th-9th I was able to participate in the Jovens camp. The camp was maxed out with over 500 participants. This time, I was able to relax and just soak in everything that God had to teach me and to do in my life. I was with my friends and made new friends as well. The theme of the camp was "Intimacy with God" and I can truly say that the presence of God was extremely present during this camp as well. God ministered to my heart so much in the 5 days that I was at the camp. It blessed me so much to see Him working in the lives of so many youth and young adults. God truly is doing something supernatural in the Amazon Basin. The youth here are hungry for God and to live in holiness and purity before Him. This is something so rare in the lives of so many Christians anymore and it is a tragedy.

Another post will be coming soon...stay tuned...

Prayer requests:

- Driving lessons...I am learning how to drive a standard car. Please pray for safety and that I would learn how to drive well.

- Car...I am believing for the Lord to provide a car for me within the next couple of months. Public transportation is getting more dangerous and also expensive as many days I have to go to several different places.

- Finances...Believing for the Lord to continue to increase my monthly support.

- Health...For the Lord to keep me healthy and free from all sickness.

Enjoy a few pictures from the AcampTEEN and Acamp2011:

First night with some of my campers

Adolescents praising the Lord!

Gleice, Iza and I

Cabin 1!!!

Jovens camp

With one of my best friends Hanna on the last night of camp

Karol and Manu from my cabin